WORLD

Turkish activist Ebru Özkan released on bail by Israeli court

On Israeli court on Wednesday upheld the decision to conditionally release detained Turkish national Ebru Özkan, who has been under arrest since June 11 for allegedly aiding Palestinian group Hamas during a touristic visit to Jerusalem.

An Israeli military court on Wednesday dismissed prosecutors' objections to the conditional release of detained Turkish national Ebru Özkan.

Özkan, 27, appeared at a Wednesday hearing at the Ofer military court in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Prosecutors lodged an objection on Tuesday after the court ruled to release Özkan on bail set at 15,000 Israeli shekels (roughly $4,125).

She has been forbidden to leave the country and her passport has been confiscated by Israeli police.

Ankara, meanwhile, has registered its objection to Özkan's arrest, vowing to take appropriate steps in response.

Özkan was arrested on June 11 at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport for alleged links to "terrorist groups".

She is not the first Turkish national to have been recently detained by Israeli authorities.

In January, Osman Hazır, a 46-year-old Turkish citizen, was arrested for snapping a selfie at East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque while holding a Turkish flag.

And last December, Israel arrested Abdullah Kızılırmak and Mehmet Gargili after they quarreled with Israeli police who had tried to bar them from entering the flashpoint holy site.

The same month, Adem Koç was arrested inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for allegedly "disturbing the peace and taking part in an illegal demonstration".